Nifty News

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Thursday, May 19, 2011

My baby graduated from preschool yesterday. I was so proud because she’s mastered the preschool curriculum of cutting along a squiggly line, writing her name, and making “pizzas” out of clay. She’s brilliant! She knows her colors, shapes, and ABCs. She’s ready for kindergarten. Her mom is not.

I was fine when Austin graduated from preschool. I was fine when Savannah graduated from preschool. I was fine when Jackson, Lexington, and Clayton graduated from preschool. But this one hit me. She’s my baby. She’s the last of my kids to go to preschool. And now she’s a big kid. A sense of sadness hit me, knowing that I’ll never set foot in that preschool again. I’ll never go to another Halloween party there. I’ll never have candy cane punch after doing the S-A-N-T-A dance with my child.

Try having an only child. Everything is new and fabulous and heartbreaking at the same time. Relief and celebration mixed with sadness. But it makes me pay more attention because I know these experiences are the only ones I will get.

"So, my real-life advice to you is to take a lot of pictures and videotape so you can relive those moments when your memory fails you." LOL, this is what I have had to do and I only have one (though most days lately I want another.) I realized recently I have taken 14000 photos (yes, three zeroes behind that 14, 14k, no typo) since Julie was born in July 2006. Not ALL of them are of her but I think it is safe to say at least 13k of the 14k are. And there are easily 24 hours worth of footage in various places. It feels like it was over in a blink but has also already been a lifetime since I feel I was reborn after having her.

She's beautiful! Congratulations! Our oldest will be there next year and the youngest a few years from now... I know it will be hard moving out of that stage, but isn't the upside more freedom? Or am I totally mislead on that one?

I just stumbled across your blog and I like it! This post made me laugh because I notice most of your kids names are places! Lol when I was coming up with names for my first son it seems the only names I could come up with were names of places like Dallis, Austin, Dayton, ect...I landed with Dakota! Then I did the same thing with my second some and landed Julien! My husband would laugh at me and tell me to just name then Brazil or Tallahassee lol...